Did Lafayette senator kill legislation, sight unseen, to protect Americus from a quarry? A Bloomington Republican cries foul, calls out Alting on Twitter

The 'Stop the Stone Quarry' signs, such as this one along Old Indiana 25, might be starting to show their age after six years of the Americus Area Community Coalition's fight against a proposed quarry eight miles northeast of Lafayette.(Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

AMERICUS, Ind. – If the northern Tippecanoe County neighbors who live near the crossroads at Americus had any lingering doubts that Statehouse friends had their back when it comes to blocking bills aimed at making it easier for Bloomington-based Rogers Group Inc. to open a quarry along Old Indiana 25, this week provided some assurance.

A back-channel mention that state Rep. Jeff Ellington, a Bloomington Republican who has riled Americus with pro-mining bills in the past two sessions, was looking to plug a provision into a bill going before the House Committee on Local Government on Thursday had those with Statehouse connections rallying against the idea, sight unseen.

Former state Rep. Sally Siegrist – a West Lafayette Republican who spent the end of the 2018 session trying to kill Ellington’s attempts to limit local control over mining and timber operations – said she’d been tipped off that he was coming with another angle that morning. Siegrist called state Sen. Ron Alting, a Lafayette Republican, and others she thought could head off whatever Ellington was doing this time. Alting checked in with state Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, whose Senate Bill 142, one on building inspections, was being targeted, and …

Long story short, by the end of the work day Thursday, Alting had issued a press release and posted on social media, thanking Siegrist “for her work behind the scenes” and applauding an effort that “voted down a last-minute amendment” that “asks the state to permit the placement of this stone quarry, overriding the decision of the community.”

Ellington said Friday that he gets why eyes are on him in moments like these. He said that even though the Americus quarry fight “has never been on my radar,” he fundamentally disagrees with local officials who side with movements such as the Americus Area Community Coalition, 100 or so members who have spent the past seven years working against a proposed quarry on 524 acres along the Wabash River.

“Over-reach of power,” he calls it.

But Ellington said he was mystified by what had happened Thursday and by the congratulations Alting was giving himself and others.

Early this morning, I received a text from my former Representative @siegrist4INrep, informing me that there was a last-minute amendment to a Senate bill that would have authorized a quarry near Americus. This is something the residents of Americus and I have been against.

Thanks to a quick response from the bill’s author, Sen. Bohacek, the amendment was denied. Big thank you to everyone involved for defeating this language and supporting the wishes of those living in Americus. pic.twitter.com/09FNCWIjrK

His amendment, Ellington told the J&C, had nothing to do with mining. It had to do with forestry.

In particular, it would have prohibited local governments from regulating the sale or removal of “merchantable timber” if a property owner could get permit to build a road cut that met local standards. The House Committee on Local Government shot down Ellington’s amendment and two others to leave SB 142 as it was when it won unanimous approval in the Senate.

Rep. Jeff Ellington, R-Bloomington(Photo: Indiana General Assembly)

By Friday night, Ellington was amplifying his frustration, calling out Alting and Siegrist in an interview and again later on Twitter.

“Mr. Alting killed an amendment that had nothing to do with the quarry,” Ellington said. “Here is what Alting said (in his press release): ‘...and I will remain vigilant against such measures that demean our local government.’ He remains so vigilant, he is killing amendments that have nothing to do with the quarry or mineral extraction. And he is killing amendments that that would empower local governments and protect taxpayers, all because he got a text from Ms. Siegrist, who cannot get the facts straight.”

"It's mystifying to me why (Mr. Alting) would not call me on my cellphone. In the future, he should check his facts and sources first before taking action."

It's frustrating to have an amendment killed b/c it was tied to falsehoods spread by text, social media and Twitter - Jeff

Alting said he wasn’t immediately concerned with a forestry bill aimed at driveways. But he said he knew that Ellington was determined to open mining and logging rights by restricting control of local plan commissions, city councils and county commissioners.

Americus already had been on point for House Bill 1531, Ellington’s bill that would have stopped local zoning appeals boards from regulating land use in flood plains. (The flood plain issue was the most recent reason for Tippecanoe County officials to reject the Rogers Group’s quarry plan.) That bill languished without a hearing by the session’s midpoint, rendering it dead, unless Ellington could find a home for parts of it in other legislation by the time the General Assembly adjourned for the year.

Alting’s statement, issued in a release from his office Thursday afternoon, said the House committee had voted against an amendment “that included language that would authorize a stone quarry near Americus.”

That wasn’t quite the case. And Ellington took issue with Alting over it.

“He clearly doesn't want to admit he made a mistake,” Ellington said. “He should just admit it he was misled by Sally Siegrist.”

On Friday, Alting stood by what he’d done. He contended that Ellington had made overtures earlier in the week to squeeze pieces of HB 1531 in Bohacek’s SB 142 on building permit regulations. Alting said he’d worked with Bohacek to agree to reject those. Alting said he followed up Thursday after learning from Siegrist that Ellington was coming with something, anyway.

“He’s a master of slipping in last-minute amendments,” Alting said. “Last year in the Senate, not once, not twice, but three times he tried to get that quarry bill in somewhere. … The other morning, we didn’t know what the hell to expect. But I didn’t look to kill any timber bill. I wanted to kill whatever he might sneak in when we weren’t looking.”

Siegrist aimed a few barbs at Ellington after being called out by him on social media: “Up to your same tricks. Still doesn’t work.”

What you are neglecting to convey, Rep Ellington,is that you approached the author of SB142 telling him you were going to amend his very good bill with your self-serving language that did not make it onto the House floor. Up to your same tricks. Still doesn’t work

Ellington said he knows his moves are watched at the Statehouse by those with an interest in natural resources property rights, local control and planning and zoning. (“Anything he proposes, I automatically look at it,” said Sallie Fahey, executive director of Tippecanoe County’s Area Plan Commission.)

What Tippecanoe County has done to stop or delay Rogers Group – including assembling an ordinance in 2014, since rejected by the Indiana Court of Appeals, that would have banned quarries within two miles of 100 homes – fits Ellington’s definition of taking someone’s land without just compensation. He said those sorts of moves block jobs and economic development.

State Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette.(Photo: J&C file photo)

Ellington admitted he’d look for any crease in the coming weeks when it came to forestry and mining, two huge interests in his limestone- and forest-rich district in southern Indiana.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Ellington said of reviving HB 1531 during the 2019 session. “Would I try if I knew there was an opening? Yeah, sure. I’d try parts of it, not all of it. … But I realize that’s a heavy lift, because there’s so many pieces to the puzzle.”

In Americus, Bill Miller, one of the founders of the anti-quarry effort, said Friday he was still trying to get a handle on what just happened. Siegrist called it “déjà vu all over again” and “just the first of many salvos.”

Alting said he took Ellington at his word – that the Bloomington Republican would look for opportunities that might not be in the best interested of Americus.

“I will take my hat off to him, he knows how to get those last-minute amendments in there – he’s persistent,” Alting said. “But we can’t let him sneak anything past on this one. It’s too important.”

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.